Lodamun

[imperialpearl]

Having previously suspended rocket launches from the Venfield Space Flight Centre following the disastrous situation surrounding the rogue Vera-2 rocket, the Lodamese Space Administration has lifted its moratorium on launches by giving final approval for two satellites to be deployed in orbit. As the investigation into the circumstances of the Vera-2 ‘rogue rocket’ incident had cleared the LSA and the SDA of wrongdoing, the former was quick to lift previous restrictions on launches, approving the launch of NavSat-1 and RedEye-1. NavSat-1 is the first of what the LSA hopes to be sixteen (16) satellites to be launched into orbit to form COSMO (Coordinated Orbital Satellite Mapping and Orientation), Lodamun’s domestically developed global navigation system. NavSat has been developed jointly between the LSA, the Lodamese Air Force and Burrell Systems Aerospace and has been designed to operate as part of a constellation of satellites. The satellite’s launch represents the beginning of the gradual process towards building out the constellation in LTO (Lower Terran Orbit) where, once completed, it will eliminate the need for Lodamun to rely on foreign global positioning/navigational satellite services. “I think the importance of NavSat-1’s launch cannot be understated. We have long expressed our hopes that COSMO can become operational such that we can reduce or completely eliminate our reliance on foreign systems, which have placed our nation at a unique disadvantage,” LSA Deputy Director Dr. Ralph Hoffman explained. 

RedEye-1’s launch, owing to its importance for Lodamese national security, occupied the greater share of the public’s attention. The Strategic Defence Agency (SDA), which had remained extremely tight-lipped on the broader details surrounding the satellite’s supposed capabilities, had a rare press conference at the latter end of the satellite’s launch at the agency’s headquarters in Kensington. There, SDA Director General Roland Kalecki explained the satellite would form the backbone of Lodamun’s ability to detect and track ballistic missiles launched throughout the globe. He reiterated that prior to the agency’s formation, Lodamun did not possess any conventional means of tracking ballistic missiles beyond what the radar systems connected to its anti-air batteries. He noted that amidst growing interest throughout the world with respect to nation fielding ballistic missiles (be they intermediate-range or intercontinental), it was important that Lodamun maintained a capacity to detect said weapons throughout their flight. “Although it is extremely useful to be able to detect these weapons from launch, it is even more useful to be able to track them as it provides us anti-ballistic missile batteries with the data-linked solutions needed to be more accurate, thus enhancing their chances of destroying these weapons.” Admiral Kalecki stated that RedEye-1 is but a small part of a much broader, long-term commitment by the SDA to negate the threat ballistic and hypersonic missiles pose to Lodamun and the broader Seleyan continent. Pointing to projects such as sea-borne X-band radar, he noted that Lodamun was building out a network capable of providing the Lodamese Armed Forces with enough information to respond to threats adequately.